OSTANKINO DIRECTOR ASSASSINATED. Popular television journalist and
director of Ostankino TV Vladislav Listev, 38, was assassinated outside his
apartment building as he came home from work on 1 March, news agencies
reported. Listev was appointed director-general of Ostankino in November 1994,
when President Boris Yeltsin reorganized Ostankino channel one into Russian
Public Television Ostankino. Although the reasons for the killing remain
unclear, early speculation points toward financial motives. Ostankino is now
51% state-owned, with a small group of corporations and commercial banks
controlling the rest. Alexander Yakovlev, chairman of the board of Ostankino,
told Interfax, "Privatizing Ostankino has badly affected someone's economic
interests." Yakovlev drew particular attention to Ostankino's decision last
week to ban advertising, effective 1 April. Listev is said to have supported
the ban, which was announced as a temporary measure until regulations are
adopted on ethical standards in advertising. The proposed ban has enormous
financial implications for businesses, as Ostankino is the only television
network broadcasting throughout the former Soviet Union. A one-minute
commercial during prime time now costs about $50,000. During the Gorbachev era,
Listev became a symbol of democratic reforms as a host of the popular news show
"Vzglyad" (View). In January 1995, he was honored by the Union of Journalists
for his more recent work on the interview shows "Tema" (Theme) and "Chas Pik"
(Rush Hour). * Laura Belin

REACTIONS TO LISTEV'S MURDER. Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin, in
London for talks with the British government, said he was "deeply shocked" by
the murder of Listev, ITAR-TASS reported. He said Listev belonged to "that
generation of journalists who not only accepted democratic changes with all
their hearts, but did a great deal to ensure reform became a reality." Russian
Public Television Chairman Yakovlev described Listev's assassination as "a
contract killing and the mafia's doing." His remarks were echoed by Lev
Novozhenov, a talk show host for NTV, who said, "there is no longer any doubt
that Moscow and Russia are run by the mafia." Russian TV began its evening
newscast with a moment of silence in honor of Listev, broken by the presenter
asking "Who will be next?" Listev's assassination is the latest in a string of
murders of prominent journalists, politicians, and businessmen. In October
1994, Dmitry Kholodov, an investigative journalist for Moskovsky
komsomolets, was killed by a booby-trapped suitcase while he was
investigating corruption in the military, and three Duma deputies have been
murdered since the December 1993 elections. Following Listev's murder, the
public flooded television channels with calls demanding the government take
steps to prevent widespread lawlessness and violence in Russian society.
According to Interior Minister Viktor Yerin, there were 32,000 murders in 1994,
about 10,000 more than in 1993, Ostankino reported. * Penny Morvant

KOZYREV VISITS CHINA. Foreign Minister Andrei Kozyrev assured his
Chinese hosts that Russia would stand by the treaty demarcating the Eastern
border between the two countries, Reuters reported on 1 March. Earlier, Yevgeny
Nazdratenko, governor of Russia's Primorsky Krai, had said the treaty signed in
1991 and ratified in 1992 is unjust and Moscow should scrap it. The dispute is
over three small islands the Soviet Union seized in the mid-1930s and Russia
has since given back. Kozyrev said he hoped the Russian parliament will soon
ratify a second accord on defining Russia's 2,700 mile border with its
neighbor. Nevertheless, Izvestiya on 2 March reported the problem may be
more complicated than Kozyrev is willing to admit. The newspaper said the
leadership of Chita Oblast, which borders China, is also concerned about the
treaty and may not support its implementation. On 1 March, Interfax and AFP
reported that Russia had expelled more than 1,000 Chinese citizens from the
Russian Far East for carrying counterfeit passports or expired visas. * Robert
Orttung

PLANS TO DIVIDE CHECHNYA RESURRECTED. A committee appointed by President
Yeltsin is to discuss a draft plan for dividing Chechnya into two zones,
according to Yusup Soslambekov, chairman of the Chechen parliament which was
forcibly dissolved by President Dzhokhar Dudaev in 1993, Western agencies and
Ekho Moskvy reported on 1 March. The northern zone would be controlled by
Salambek Khadzhiev's government of national revival and the southern one by
Dudaev. On 25 January, Russian Security Council secretary Oleg Lobov had
officially denied the existence of any such plan to split Chechnya, affirming
that further territorial divisions within the Russian Federation are
inadmissible. Also on 1 March, Russian Defense Minister Pavel Grachev predicted
that Russian forces would have no problems in capturing the Chechen resistance
strongholds of Argun, Gudermes, and Shali, ITAR-TASS reported. * Liz Fuller

IMPORTANT SHIFT IN TACTICS IN CHECHNYA. Grachev has revealed an
important tactical shift in the campaign against the three remaining major
Chechen strongholds, Interfax reported on 1 March. Even though those Chechen
defenders are not as well-equipped or numerous as the ones in Grozny, Grachev
is proposing to rely more heavily on psychological war techniques and to use
regular troops, rather than Interior Ministry forces, in the initial assaults.
Grachev has come under heavy criticism within the Russian military for using
green conscripts in the assault on Grozny. * Michael Mihalka

OPPOSITION TO YELTSIN AND GRACHEV GROWS WITHIN THE MILITARY. "At every
level of the military, people are emerging who openly disagree with the
president and the defense minister over reforms in the army and the country's
military policy," reads an internal Russian Defense Ministry document obtained
by Reuters on 1 March. It mentioned "the growing flood of coffins coming in
from Chechnya and Tajikistan" and added "even the eyes of the most indifferent
start opening." It also said, "They link the name of the defense minister to
the danger of an increasingly likely death." The authorship and purpose of the
document are unclear and the Defense Ministry declined to comment. Many senior
and junior officers have expressed their opposition to how the military
campaign has been run in Chechnya. * Michael Mihalka

FILATOV DENOUNCES KORZHAKOV. President Yeltsin's chief of staff Sergei
Filatov bitterly denounced the head of the presidential security service,
General Alexander Korzhakov, saying he was creating an increasingly unhealthy
atmosphere in the Kremlin, AFP reported. Filatov told the weekly Argumenty i
fakty that he is not familiar with "the function or structures" of the
presidential security service and cannot say what it does. Filatov said
Korzhakov is working to increase his influence inside the Kremlin and is using
former KGB methods, though he did not specify precisely what that means.
Filatov's statements reflect increasingly bitter differences within Yeltsin's
inner circle. * Robert Orttung

GAIDAR PROPOSES STRATEGY FOR DEMOCRATIC COALITION. Russia's Choice
chairman Yegor Gaidar told local party leaders in Barnaul it is too early for
the democrats to nominate a presidential candidate. He said such a move would
split possible allies and prevent the establishment of a democratic coalition,
which is "necessary and possible," Interfax and Russian television reported on
1 March. He said the coalition's main goal should be to unify its support
behind candidates in the races decided by single-member districts rather than
party lists. * Robert Orttung

YELTSIN SIGNS DECREES ON ECONOMIC REFORM. In an effort to extend
economic reforms and increase the effectiveness of the market economy,
President Yeltsin signed six decrees on 1 March which give him unprecedented
control over government spending and tax exemptions, Russian and Western
agencies reported. The decrees are intended to help Russia keep its budget
deficit down to less than 8% of GDP, one of the conditions put forth by the
IMF, which is in the last stage of negotiating a $6.2 billion standby loan for
the country. The decrees allow for a further liberalization of internal state-
regulated tariffs; the establishment of prices on production and technical
facilities, and on consumer goods and services; accountancy of subsidies
associated with tariffs in relation to the federal budget; a crackdown on
enterprises and organizations that violate price regulation; and proposals on
levying sanctions for violations of tariff legislation. The decrees will allow
Yeltsin and a credit commission that includes First Deputy Prime Minister
Anatoly Chubais to oversee spending decisions made by other parts of the
government. The decrees should also help reduce interest group corruption and
heavy lobbying. * Thomas Sigel

AGRICULTURE MINISTER IN U.S. FOR TALKS. Russian Agriculture Minister
Alexander Nazarchuk is meeting with the U.S. Department of Agriculture in
Washington D.C. this week to sign new documents defining the legal-contractual
basis of U.S.-Russian cooperation in agriculture, Intefax reported on 1 March.
Nazarchuk will also meet with World Bank representatives to discuss a possible
$240 million credit to support the Russian agro-industrial sector in developing
market infrastructure and cultivating seed production. Nazarchuk hopes to
discuss a potential $500 million credit for creating systems to produce,
process, and sell food in six Russian regions. Although there is no official
word, some speculate that Nazarchuk will be negotiating grain imports on his
visit. In February, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Zaveryukha told Interfax
that Russia could import up to 2 million tons of wheat this season. Economics
Minister Yevgeni Yasin said Russia's wheat shortage would be at least 3.5 to 4
million tons. He warned that some Russian regions could already face wheat
shortages this March. * Thomas Sigel

CHERNOMYRDIN IN BRITAIN. Prime Minister Chernomyrdin held talks with
British Prime Minister John Major in London on 1 March, ITAR-TASS reported.
Topics included Chechnya and the future of European security, but the main
subject was the Russian economy. Chernomyrdin emphasized Russia's continuing
commitment to reforms and said he thought the latest round of IMF negotiations,
which began last Friday, would succeed in closing a deal this month. On
security matters, Chernomyrdin reiterated the Russian stance that it should not
be excluded from decisions about Europe's future, even though it is not an EU
or NATO member. * Michael Mihalka

RUSSIA HANDS BANK OF ENGLAND $100 MILLION FOR INTEREST ARREARS. Prime
Minister Chernomyrdin gave the Bank of England a $100 million check on 1 March
for interest arrears due to Western banks, Russian and Western sources
reported. The payment represented the first installment of $500 million in
interest alone due from 1992-93. Although a relatively small amount, the
payment symbolizes Moscow's readiness to service its external debt. Russia's
total debt to Western creditors is more than $120 billion according to
government officials. * Thomas Sigel

AUSTRIA REJECTS RUSSIAN CALLS FOR ITS NEUTRALITY. Austria has rejected
Russian calls for a renewal of its neutral status, Reuters reported on 1 March.
Austrian President Thomas Klestil said on 27 February that Moscow was insisting
Austria issue a declaration reaffirming the 1955 state treaty and the
constitutional law which denoted Austria's permanent neutral status, before
President Yeltsin's scheduled visit in April. Klestil called the demand
"unacceptable." Yeltsin, along with representatives of the other post-war
occupying powers, has been invited to a ceremony in Vienna on 27 April to mark
the 50th anniversary of the modern Austrian Republic's establishment. * Michael
Mihalka

No report today.

RUSSIAN-UKRAINIAN FINANCIAL GROUPS APPROVED. In a 24 February
resolution, the Russian government approved the creation of a Russian-Ukrainian
financial-industrial group, called Mezhdunarodniye Aviadvigateli, for their
aircraft engine manufacturing enterprises, Interfax reported on 28 February.
The group will probably produce engines for the AN-70 cargo plane, which is
still in its development stage. The draft agreement stipulates that Russian,
Ukrainian, and foreign banks and companies are entitled to join the group. The
group is to include financial, credit, insurance, and trading companies and
will encompass some 50 Ukrainian enterprises including the former Soviet
Union's largest engine manufacturing plant, Motorish, in Zaporizhzhya, Ukraine.
* Ustina Markus

SEJM VOTES TO OUST PAWLAK. The Sejm on 1 March voted 285 to 5 in favor
of the constructive no-confidence motion to replace Prime Minister Waldemar
Pawlak with Sejm speaker Jozef Oleksy, Radio Warsaw reports. There were 127
abstentions from opposition deputies. In sarcastic parting remarks, Pawlak
wished his "colleagues from the Democratic Left Alliance, who so willingly
acceded to the president's demands, harmonious cooperation with Lech Walesa."
But the president refused to meet with Oleksy until the premier-designate
resigned his post as Sejm speaker. He also refused to accept Pawlak's
resignation. Oleksy duly submitted his resignation on 1 March; the Sejm will
consider it only after the new government is formed. A spokesman indicated that
Oleksy will present three candidates each for the defense and foreign affairs
posts, "whenever the president finds the time." The constitution gives Oleksy
21 days to present his cabinet to the Sejm for approval. If the government wins
majority support, "the president appoints [it]." Oleksy is required to seek the
president's opinion on the three security portfolios. Walesa argues that his
views are binding; the coalition disagrees. The constitution sets no time limit
for the president to express his views. * Louisa Vinton

UKRAINIAN PRIME MINISTER STEPS DOWN. Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma
has accepted the resignation of Prime Minister Vitaliy Masol, removing a major
obstacle to badly needed economic reforms and international aid,
Interfax-Ukraine and Western agencies reported on 1 March. Presidential
spokesman Mykhailo Doroshenko and a number of his close aides confirmed that
Kuchma told the Cabinet of Ministers that the 68-year-old Masol, who was also
Ukrainian premier during the Soviet era until anti-government student protests
in 1990 forced him to resign, had decided to retire. Under the Ukrainian
Constitution, his resignation must be approved by the Ukrainian parliament.
Kuchma has appointed First Deputy Premier Yevhen Marchuk, former chief of the
Ukrainian Security Service, as acting prime minister. A former leader of the
dominant leftist faction in the Ukrainian legislature, Masol resisted many of
Kuchma's measures to reform the country's Soviet-style economy, but he was
viewed as increasingly isolated within the government, dominated by Kuchma's
hand-picked reformers. Shortly after Masol's resignation, the government
adopted the 1995 budget, which cuts the budget deficit to 6.4% of GDP by
slashing social entitlements and subsidies to failing industries. It also
pledged to submit a memorandum this week to the IMF in its efforts to obtain a
$1.3 billion standby loan. The draft budget must still be approved by the
Ukrainian Parliament in order to become law. * Chrystyna Lapychak

KEBICH, KAZLOUSKI TO RUN FOR BELARUSIAN PARLIAMENT. Former Belarusian
Prime Minister Vyachelsau Kebich has said that he will run in the May
parliament elections as an independent candidate in the Barysau district,
Belarusian Radio reported on 28 February. He noted that it will be easy for him
to run his election campaign because the new government has made many mistakes.
The former premier was President Alyaksandr Lukashenka's main opponent in the
presidential elections, but he lost the contest, with a mere 14% of the vote to
Lukashenka's 80%. It was also reported that former Defense Minister Pavel
Kazlouski is considering running for parliament in the Pruzhansk raion.
Kazlouski was dismissed by Lukashenka after the latter's election as president.
During the presidential campaign, Lukashenka accused Kazlouski of corruption,
prompting Kazlouski to file a libel suit against him. * Ustina Markus

ESTONIA SIGNS INDIVIDUAL PARTNERSHIP FOR PEACE PROGRAM. Estonian Foreign
Minister Juri Luik on 1 March signed his country's individual cooperation
program for NATO's Partnership for Peace, AFP reported. After meeting with the
NATO Council in Brussels, Luik told reporters that the signing was a step
toward full NATO membership but warned: "If NATO is enlarged, it should be done
by thinking about the security of all eastern partners in Europe. We are facing
a security grey zone, a dangerous zone of instability." Of the 25 countries
that signed up for PFP, Estonia was the twelfth to sign an individual program.
* Saulius Girnius

LITHUANIAN-ISRAELI RELATIONS. President Algirdas Brazauskas, in his
address to the Israeli Knesset (parliament) on 1 March, apologized again to the
Jewish nation for participation of Lithuanians in World War II crimes against
it, Western agencies reported. Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin said Brazauskas's
visit was "the first sign promising a spring in our relations." Brazauskas also
visited Bethlehem and met with Israeli businessmen in Tel Aviv. Lithuanian
Foreign Minister Povilas Gylys signed an agreement on visa-free entry for
holders of diplomatic passports, and Health Minister Antanas Vinkus concluded
an accord on cooperation in health care. * Saulius Girnius

KLAUS ON CZECH ECONOMIC PROSPECTS. Prime Minister Vaclav Klaus,
addressing businessmen in Brno on 1 March, said he expects economic growth to
speed up in 1995, inflation to fall only slowly, and the Czech Republic's low
unemployment rate to increase gradually but only by 2% over the next two years,
Hospodarske noviny reported. He also said the stability of the Czech
koruna could be maintained, even if the country registers a trade deficit (the
1994 deficit was 12.5 billion koruny, according to official figures). The
koruna's stability will be "our conscious policy, and it could be our formal
anchor and a significant stabilizing element," Klaus said. Meanwhile, the Czech
Statistical Office reported that GDP grew by 2.7% in real terms in 1994, with a
sharp increase of 4.7% in the last three months--the best quarterly result
since the economic transformation began. At current prices, GDP reached 1.036
trillion koruny last year. * Steve Kettle

SLOVAK PRESIDENT ON RELATIONS WITH MECIAR. Michal Kovac on 1 March
commemorated the second anniversary of his inauguration with an international
press conference at Bratislava's Hotel Forum, Slovak media reported. He said
his relations with Prime Minister Vladimir Meciar were influenced by
differences not in the direction and goals of their policies but rather in
their political style. Stressing that not only friends and allies are involved
in politics but also people who have differences, Kovac said that even the
latter are obliged to cooperate. With regard to relations between the
president, parliament, and government, Kovac said he has made enough effort but
that he sometimes feels that others do not meet him half-way. Kovac
characterized the reductions in the presidential office's 1995 budget, as
stipulated in the state budget draft for this year, as "drastic." According to
Kovac, the effort to limit the activities of the president and his office to a
minimum are incomprehensible since it does not serve Slovak interests. "The
president is not the head of the coalition, the opposition, or another part of
the state. He is the main representative of the entire republic," Kovac said. *
Sharon Fisher

HORN MEETS REPRESENTATIVES OF HUNGARIAN MINORITIES. Hungarian Prime
Minister Gyula Horn on 1 March discussed with representatives of the Hungarian
minorities in Romania and Slovakia the basic treaties currently being
negotiated with those countries, MTI and Radio Budapest reported. The minority
representatives raised no objections to the Hungarian draft of the treaties but
want those documents to include increased guarantees for the protection of
minority rights. Miklos Duray, chairman of the Coexistence movement in
Slovakia, said that the Slovak side will have to make a "political turnabout"
if the treaty is to be signed by 20 March. Bela Marko, chairman of the
Hungarian Democratic Federation of Romania, stressed that the basic treaty must
go a long way toward solving the problems of Hungarians in Romania. Hungarian
Foreign Minister Laszlo Kovacs told reporters that the Hungarian side will make
every effort to sign the treaties by 20 March. * Edith Oltay

CROATIA STANDS FIRM ON UNPROFOR. The Croatian Defense and National
Security Council met at the Presidential Palace on 1 March, Hina reports. An
official statement on President Franjo Tudjman's decision to end UNPROFOR's
mandate as of 31 March states: "The Council is determined to stick to the
decision . . . The mandate will not be extended. As proof of its determination
to achieve a peaceful solution and the reintegration of the occupied areas,
Croatia is willing to accept the presence of international monitors on its
internationally recognized borders with Serbia and Bosnia. Croatia will not
accept a new UNPROFOR, or the deployment of any forces in the disengagement
zone in Croatia [that is, along the current battle lines between Croatian and
Krajina Serb forces]." Zagreb charges that the UN presence along those lines
has served only to protect Serbian conquests. Novi list on 2 March
quotes Chief of the General Staff General Janko Bobetko as saying that control
of Croatia's borders with Serbia and Bosnia would "solve the crisis" in
Zagreb's view. Nasa Borba, however, cites Defense Minister Gojko Susak
as arguing that if a new war should break out, "the international community
will not react if we work professionally and quickly, as our army is capable of
doing." * Patrick Moore

"SOME OF THE WORST ETHNIC CLEANSING SINCE LAST YEAR." This is how a UN
spokesman on 1 March summed up the expulsion from the Banja Luka area of 679
Muslims and Croats, whose houses were dynamited. Nasa Borba on 2 March
reports that the Banja Luka Serbs also arrested six employees of the Muslim
charity organization Merhamet. The Serbs had previously detained three other
Merhamet workers elsewhere in Bosnia. UN officials on 1 March said that both
government and Serbian forces are hindering movement of UN personnel. AFP added
that for the first time, the Serbs have issued a blanket ban on all UN refugee
agency convoys heading for Sarajevo. In other news, Vecernji list on 2
March reports that a large contingent of Zagreb doctors has arrived in Nova
Bila, in central Bosnia. The historic monastery has a hospital that was all but
destroyed in the fighting between Croats and Muslims in 1993, during which the
Bosnian Croats often complained that Zagreb had abandoned them. * Patrick
Moore

CONTACT GROUP MEETS MILOSEVIC. Representatives of the international
Contact Group met in Belgrade on 1 March with Serbian President Slobodan
Milosevic. According to international news agencies, the purpose of the latest
meeting was to secure Milosevic's backing for a peace plan and to sound out his
views on the situation in the former Yugoslavia. Milosevic has been unwilling
so far to endorse a plan whereby Belgrade would recognize Croatia and Bosnia
and Herzegovina in exchange for the lifting of sanctions against the rump
Yugoslavia. According to a Reuters account, Contact Group delegates were
tight-lipped after the meeting. Members of the group are slated to hold an
emergency meeting in Paris on 2 March. * Stan Markotich

RUMP YUGOSLAV ARMY OFFICIAL SACKED. Tanjug on 1 March reported that Col.
Ljubodrag Stojadinovic, head of the rump Yugoslav army's propaganda division,
was dismissed the same day, following trial by military tribunal on charges of
impugning the president and the military. According to Belgrade's independent
Radio B 92, Stojadinovic's dismissal may have far-reaching consequences,
signaling to other alleged pro-Bosnian Serb nationalists that they, too, may be
purged. * Stan Markotich

U.S. TO SEND MORE TROOPS TO MACEDONIA? The U.S. administration is
considering sending more troops to Macedonia, the Baltimore Sun reported
on 2 March. A senior administration official said 500 to 10,000 additional
soldiers could be stationed there. Between 300 and 600 U.S. army soldiers have
been part of the 1,100-strong UN peacekeeping force in Macedonia since 1993.
National Security Adviser Anthony Lake told reporters on 1 March that sending
additional troops to Macedonia is being considered because of the danger of a
widening Balkan war. "Macedonia becomes extremely important because of its
ethnic mix and because of Greece's interest in Macedonia," Lake was cited as
saying. U.S. officials fear that a possible Serbian move against Macedonia may
lead to a Balkan war involving neighboring countries. * Stefan Krause

PAKISTANI DEFENSE MINISTERIN BOSNIA AND ALBANIA. Aftab Shaaban Mirani,
during his visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina on 1 March, celebrated the Bajram
holiday with the 3,000 Pakistani UNPROFOR soldiers stationed there and met with
President Alija Izetbegovic. He is to arrive in Albania on 3 March for a
three-day visit, Gazeta Shqiptare reported the previous day. Mirani is
scheduled to meet with Defense Minister Safet Zhulali and will also visit
Croatia. Meanwhile, Albanian President Sali Berisha said Tirana is ready to
improve relations with Greece, despite the recent killing of two illegal
Albanian immigrants by Greek border guards, Reuters reported on 1 March. Greek
Foreign Minister Karolos Papoulias will visit Albania on 13 March. According to
Deutsche Welle's Albanian-language service on 1 March, the Greek government is
preparing a law to regulate migration from Albania to Greece. * Fabian
Schmidt

ROMANIAN PARLIAMENT APPROVES 1995 STATE BUDGET. The Romanian Senate and
Chamber of Deputies, in a joint session on 1 March, approved the 1995 state
budget by a vote of 244 to 102 with 34 abstentions, Radio Bucharest and Western
agencies report. The budget's revenues are expected to total 14.68 trillion lei
($8.1 billion) and expenditures 16.62 trillion lei ($9.2 billion), with a
planned deficit of 1.93 trillion lei ($1.1 billion). Health is allocated 2.49
trillion lei ($1.4 billion), education 2.05 trillion lei ($ 1.1 billion), and
defense 1.77 trillion lei ($976 million). The budget, which is generally seen
as an austerity measure, was criticized by opposition deputies, including Ion
Ratiu of the National Peasant Party-Christian Democratic. He called it
"unrealistic," saying it is based on the assumption that the economic situation
is improving, which, he noted, is definitely not the case. But representatives
of the ruling Party of Social Democracy in Romania praised the budget, saying
it was more balanced than last year's. PDSR Deputy Chairman Ion Solcanu claimed
that most revenues would come from company profit rather than high public
taxation. Romania's estimated GDP for 1995 is 70.34 trillion lei ($38.7
billion). * Dan Ionescu

TALKS ON A ROMANIAN "GRAND COALITION" GET UNDER WAY. The first meeting
of parties interested in setting up a "grand coalition" of Romanian opposition
forces took place in Bucharest on 1 March, Radio Bucharest reported. The idea
of the new alliance stems from Sergiu Cunescu, chairman of the Romanian
Social-Democratic Party. The meeting was attended by leading figures in the
Democratic Party-National Salvation Front (PD-FSN), the Liberal Party '93, and
the Party of Civic Alliance. All formations participating in the talks, with
the exception of the PD-FSN, were members of the Democratic Convention of
Romania (CDR) until recently but refused to sign the alliance's revised
protocols. The new "grand coalition" is aimed at offering an umbrella to those
political parties that already have or are about to quit the CDR. It is
designed to be a loose political alliance with neither a president nor
statutes. * Dan Ionescu

RUSSIA CUTS GAS SUPPLIES TO MOLDOVA. Western agencies reported on 28
February that the Russian gas company Gazprom has reduced gas supplies to
Moldova until the country starts paying off its debts. Mihai Lesnic, general
director of Moldova's state gas company, said supplies were halted on 26
February. He was quoted as saying that his country, which is dependent on
Russian gas, owed Gazprom $220 million. He also noted that local enterprises
are receiving no supplies, while the public continues to be "more or less
supplied" with gas still in the pipe. A Moldovan delegation, including a
representative of the breakaway Dniester region, are expected in Moscow on 2
March to negotiate with Gazprom. The self-styled Dniester Republic has not been
paying for Russian gas since 1993. It accounts for at least 50% of all Moldovan
debts to Gazprom. * Dan Ionescu

MOLDOVA ISSUES NEW PASSPORTS. The Republic of Moldova on 1 March began
issuing its own passports and identity cards to replace Soviet-era documents,
Western agencies reported. An official at the Moldovan Interior Ministry, who
described the new documents as "another symbol of Moldova's independence and
statehood," was quoted by Reuters as saying that the new passports could easily
be read by computer and were "almost impossible to forge." Moldovan citizens
will have to pay the equivalent of about $25 to obtain a new passport (the
average monthly wage in Moldova is about $40). Old passports will remain valid
until 1 January 1997. * Dan Ionescu